West Virginia Army Guard has top resource management program in Army Guard

National Guard Bureau
Story by Staff Sgt. Darron Salzer

Date: 08.27.2014
Posted: 08.27.2014 12:24
News ID: 140518
2014 Army Communities of Excellence Awards

ARLINGTON, Va. - The West Virginia Army National Guard was recognized as the overall winner in the Army Guard level competition of the 2014 Army Communities of Excellence program during a ceremony Aug. 22 in the District of Columbia.

The ACOE program recognizes outstanding performance in installation management and helps to develop efficient business practices.

"You all are at the tip of the spear ... in working through organizational challenges that increase efficiency, that increase effectiveness, that increase the rigor ... and stewardship and management of our resources," said Army Brig. Gen. Walter Fountain, the special assistant to the acting director of the Army National Guard.

"Which in the end, in my view, will pay those dividends necessary to continue to build on the readiness that we have gained over the last very difficult 13 years," he said.

Fountain said, "As an Army, we have to continue to work across three components to determine how we're going to look going forward and how to do that in a way that the nation can afford."

Accepting the award for the West Virginia Army Guard was Army Maj. Gen. Charles Veit, the assistant adjutant general for Army, West Virginia National Guard.

"We're humbled and honored to receive such high recognition," Veit said. "[Our Army] Guard members and their families have worked hard - guided by the vision and leadership of the adjutant general - for many years to reach the level of professionalism and maturity demonstrated across the organization today.

"Earning this award for the third time validates West Virginia Army National Guard processes as sound and successful. We strongly believe that there is a positive correlation in our achieved results over the years."

The ACOE program is a continuous-improvement business management process that measures organizational performance, and is based upon the idea that communities achieve the most success when providing members excellent services and facilities.

"Application of the ACOE principles has brought the West Virginia National Guard [more than] 15 years of unprecedented organizational success," Veit said. "The West Virginia Army and Air National Guard have worked together to make the ... components better through resource management and leader development."

"In these times of shrinking budgets, continual increases in requirements and a continuous request for our resources demands that we continue to improve in order to accomplish our federal, state, and community missions in support of our service members and their families - without whom we could not accomplish our missions," he said.

Veit said the people and processes of the West Virginia Army Guard are what have made the programs there so successful, and that further improvement will be a continuous process.

Fountain urged all organizations to continue to improve their resource management programs, and then to share with others what the best practices are.

"As we go forward ... I would like to encourage you all to continue to do what you have been doing - to continue to build on the process improvements to sustain not only your current programs, but to build on your program and share it with others," Fountain said.